Seoul Sights

In the 10 days we have been in Seoul we have seen so many different things.  It is such a very different city to any of the big cities we have visited before.  Here are a few things which we have found interesting...

Gas stations with attendants.  Every gas station has several attendants.  In fact, it is very easy to get service in every store of every size that we've been in so far.

Driving ranges.  We've seen a few of these.  Golf is apparently very popular in Korea, so it makes sense that there would be driving ranges.  They are positioned above the surrounding buildings.  One we saw, the golfers were positioned on the second or third floor of a building.

Water dispensing systems.  There are many of these in large stores and food courts.  In the food courts, there are metal cups in a sterilizer.  People help themselves to cups and water, then deposit the used cups.  They are washed and put back in the sterilizer.  At all the "fast food" places we've seen which serve Korean food, it is served on actual dishes, and not in throw-away containers.  Also in one food court, there was a sink for people to wash up after they had finished eating.  And did I mention - everything is VERY clean.  (There are staff cleaning up constantly...and people clean up after themselves as well).

Recycling.  In our neighbourhood (and in others that we've visited) there are people who come and get the recycling and take it to local depots.  This means that we separate out our recyclables, and leave them outside our apartment.  These people are, for the most part, elderly, but they work tirelessly to keep the recycling picked up and taken to depots.  Some, like this man, have a cart.  We've seen these used for cardboard and styrofoam, but the "recyclers" also pick up plastic and tins.  None of the beverage containers here have a deposit paid on them, so they are put out with other recycling.

Parking solutions.  There are many cars in Seoul, but not lots of space.  This is the parking solution in our own apartment building - a car elevator.  This takes the vehicle down to the basement parking area.  People also park on the area we would consider sidewalk.

This is another unique solution - 8 cars can park in the space of 2 cars.  We've seen 2 of these, but imagine that they must be reasonably common.

Now, we don't know about this building, but it does say P on it and it is very narrow.  We wonder if this is a giant car parking elevator...something to research for another day.

Small trucks.  And these are REALLY small.  Amazingly, there are not as many small cars as we thought there would be...but there are no BIG trucks.  At least not as personal vehicles.  (We have seen dump trucks, and other big trucks with freight - but very few of these - at least where we've been).  All trucks appear to be some kind of commercial vehicle.  These trucks are small enough to fit up on sidewalks...just one of the many advantages of a truck this size.

Overhead wires. Everywhere.  We find this interesting because we had no overhead wires in our subdivision back home.  There are so many buildings receiving power...

Narrow streets and LOTS of shops.  I think this is the part of our adventure so far that we both enjoy.  This street is actually wide compared to some of the little narrow alleyways we've been down.  And everywhere there are the signs telling of the businesses.  I'm hoping to soon be reading enough Korean to get some idea of what's for sale!